Ecosystems: living communities - for iPad/Mac/PC
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What are ecosystems, and what do different ecosystems have in common? How are they affected by human activity? From the diverse rainforests of the tropics to the smallest microbial communities, ecosystems support life on Earth. This album reveals the ecological relationships that create these living systems of energy transfer and explores some of the key processes that occur. It goes on to show how these complex systems can be affected by external influences and harmed by the activities of humans. This material forms part of The Open University course S396 Ecosystems.
What is an ecosystem?
How the definition of an ecosystem as "a living system of energy transfer" arose
The energy cycle
Understanding the role of the sun, carbon, and energy interactions between organisms in ecosystems
Humans enter the equation
How human activity affects the delicate energy balance in an ecosystem with often adverse consequences
Managing or meddling?
How ecosystems need careful understanding if we are to sustain them for the future whilst using them to our economic advantage